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Distance education is not a new phenomenon as it has actually been available since the 1700s. The first form of distance education was the correspondence school model, which has evolved into an electronic form to deliver education at a distance. This article traces distance education from its early beginnings to the present time with examples of past and current institutions that offer distance education.
Growth in the types and scope of distance education has been more evolutionary than revolutionary. Effective distance education focuses on the needs of the learners, the requirements of the content, and constraints faced by the teacher (Willis, 1994). Distance education takes place when a teacher and student(s) are separated by physical distance. The immediate clues the teacher sees in the traditional classroom when students are struggling with the content are absent in distance learning. Usually, print and audio/video media are used to bridge the instructional gap. In this article, we trace the roots of distance learning beginning with structured correspondence education and ending with an overview of the impact that distance learning is having in for-profit education.
CORRESPONDENCE EDUCATION
Correspondence education became practical only after a reliable postal service was developed that could carry the lessons and the students' responses. Without regular mail service, the delay between submitting the lesson and the receiving feedback would have been too long. As an early example, Caleb Phillips placed an advertisement in the Boston Gazette on March 20, 1728, offering to send weekly shorthand lessons to prospective students (Holmberg, 1995).
Early pioneers in distance learning recognized a need to augment learning opportunities for everyone. In the 180Os, Anna Eliot Ticknor organized a correspondence school based in Boston, Massachusetts. In "Society to Encourage Studies at Home," Ticknor offered instruction in 24 subjects within six departments: history, science, art, literature, French, and German. Many of her students were young women, kept at home by the conventions of their time (MacKenzie & Christensen, 1971). During the 188Os, Thomas J. Foster organized a tutoring staff to help grade the assignments in the pamphlets distributed by mail to teach mine safety. When he expanded the subjects offered, this venture became the International Correspondence Schools (MacKenzie & Christensen, 1971). Early examples of distance learning from Great Britain included...